


Every Moment is Precious

by whiteraven1606



Series: Three [14]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Culture Shock, Dancing, Drunkenness, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Force Ghosts, Jedi Code, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Past Child Abuse, Past Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protectiveness, Stormtrooper Culture, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 02:00:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6636550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteraven1606/pseuds/whiteraven1606
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karé hadn't expected to be met with tiny Stormtroopers upon her return. She blames Poe. For his part, Poe hadn't expected Karé Kun to bring him a box full of so much trouble. He was blaming the Force at this point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Every Moment is Precious

****

Lando Calrissian threw down the datareader and glared at Wedge Antilles. "If I had one I'd have already sent the stupid thing to Leia. It isn't everyday she tells _everyone_ she knows to find her a working genetic scanner."

Wedge spread his hands. "I just figured of anyone, you'd be the best bet since..." He grimaced. "...Han."

Lando sighed. "Yeah, well." He waved a hand at the window overlooking the largest research hospital on Bespin. "It is the weirdest thing. They've got one that's sort of working."

"Sort of?"

"It'll read when you need it for diagnosing something, just not when you want it to distinguish parentage in humans. Works fine for Wookies, Hutts, even Gungans, just not humans."

"That how the ones on Corellia are acting too." Wedge ran his hand through his hair. "I even tried going to the factory, but they had a fire. Didn't hurt any workers or droids, but they can't do a custom build, or any builds, for at least another couple of months."

Lando rubbed his forehead. "Yeah. I tried building one. Parts are scarce. I got enough for one, parts tested fine, put it together, and it fried on powerup."

Wedge sighed. "If I didn't know any better I'd say the Force doesn't want the General having one."

Lando snorted. "The Force doesn't work like that." He frowned. "I think." He beckoned Wedge over and handed him the datareader. "Kinda wish we could just find Mara. She'd be able to just _look_ at whoever Leia's worrying about and know everything about them."

Wedge rubbed the back of his head. "She was running scared last I saw of her."

Lando glanced up at him as he handed over the datareader. "Scared?"

Wedge nodded. "She gave me a datachip for Han. I was supposed to met up with him about a week later, but we didn't get together because something came up. I still have it. I should probably get it to the General." Wedge looked over the datareader. "Bantha fodder."

Lando chuckled. "That's what I said. What's on the datachip?"

"Don't know. Mara was real adamant it was for Han's eyes only. You know how she gets. I wasn't about to make her mad at me."

"Understandable." Lando took the datareader back. "I do not want to show this rancor shit of a list to General Leia. You have any bright ideas?"

Wedge rubbed at his temple. "At this point I'd rather go back to hunting kyber crystals for Luke."

"Is that the time you ended up an Ewok pilot?"

Wedge smacked Lando on the shoulder. "No." He frowned at the datareader on the desk. "Might be easier to find Luke for her."

Lando blinked. "You haven't heard?"

"What, that folks think he came back? Yeah, don't believe a word of it. Only reason I believed it about Han being dead was that Maz said and she and the General talk some."

"I thought Maz died when the First Order hit her place."

"Nah. She's all pissy and talking about starting over in another system. She told me to tell Chewie he's got a place with her if he doesn't want to fly the _Falcon_ anymore."

Lando stood and started pulling on his jacket. "I thought his ship had been stolen."

"Was. General said it was picked up off Jakku by a scavenger and an ex-Stormtrooper who were saving a droid for the Resistance."

Lando frowned at Wedge. "Ex-Stormtrooper? They don't defect."

"This one did." Wedge followed Lando down the hallway. "Dragged Commander Dameron out of the hands of the First Order as he went."

"Dameron? That little guy that kept telling you he was going to grow up to be Leia at the welcoming party after Ben's birth?"

Wedge rolled his eyes. "That's the one. They grow up, you know."

Lando sighed. "Oh. I know." He opened the hatch to the hanger bay. "Come on. If I have to get yelled at, you do too."

"How am I getting yelled at? It isn't my list."

"You're going to tell her we can't get a working scanner while I tell her about the list."

"That's..." Wedge stopped near the ramp for Lando's ship. "Yeah, you're right. She's going to yell." He sighed. "You ever feel too old to keep doing this stuff?"

Lando clapped him on the shoulder. "I felt too old a long time ago." He smiled sweetly. "I quit worrying about it because we do what needs done to keep the galaxy going."

****

Kaleine leaned around the hatch. "Satine?"

"Come in, Little Free Stormtrooper." Satine motioned her forward. "I hope you don't mind using part of your off-shift for this."

Kaleine frowned as she stopped at Satine's side and looked over the console Satine was punching buttons on. "Kaxvil didn't say what you wanted me for."

"Hmm." Satine patted the cot next to them. "Here sit. Tell me what you like about being Resistance."

Kaleine eyed Satine. "Why?"

Satine patted the cot again. "Please."

Kaleine scrambled up onto the cot. "You changed the Repeating Roll without telling anyone, so what are you doing this time without telling anyone?"

Satine smiled and flicked a switch. "Oh, child. What happens when you have to live amongst your enemies, but they are stupid enough to let you at their equipment?"

"You sabotage it, of course. Any way that can't be traced back to you and you try to make it look like an accident if possible."

"Hmm." Satine turned towards Kaleine. "And if the Supreme Leader and the First Order are my enemies what do you think I've had the time to do?"

Kaleine cocked her head. "Are you still encrypted? You aren't making proper sense."

Satine smiled. "Makes sense to me. Without fleetwide encryption anyone can read their ship-to-ship messages. That gives the Princess General information. Over time I managed to tie anything that needed a code into the Code Six. Modified the Sixes to do what I needed."

Kaleine ran a finger over the Code Six's casing. "It sings in the Force. Like locks hum, but prettier."

"They all sing." She patted the Code Six.

"What do you need them to do?"

Satine blinked and looked down at Kaleine. "Hmm?"

"You said you got everything in the First Order that uses a code to access to need the Code Six. You didn't say what you need them to do."

"What three dead Jedi need them to do, more like." Satine nudged Kaleine over and sat down next to her. "What do you like about the Resistance?"

Kaleine frowned up at her. "You still haven't said why."

"No, I haven't." Satine flicked switches on the console wired to the Code Six. "Names are important and your name is a trigger."

"Like when you repeat a different name for someone?"

"Somewhat." Satine poked a button. "I've been helping Phasma build a following, but she's dead to the First Order right now. What does that mean?"

Kaleine peered at the console. "It means everything comes apart if she was holding it together. Why list her as dead? You can change any code so why..." She snapped her head up to stare at Satine. "My name is a _code_?"

"Hmm." Satine smiled. "How would you get an army of Troopers to overthrow all they've ever known?"

"Something impossible happens..." Kaleine wiggled around until she was kneeling on her knees. "I like the Resistance because they don't say I have to leave my troopers behind. Food is never taken away. I make my own decisions. Commander Poe says I have to decide things for myself and that means I have to be responsible for what I decide. My actions affect other people as well as me."

Satine nodded. "And would you go back to the First Order?"

Kaleine shook her head. "No. I'm not a unit or a number in a list to be disposed of when I'm no longer useful. I'm..." Kaleine's eyebrows drew together. "Me?" She nodded and smiled. "I'm me and my life is my own. I fight for the Resistance with my platoon. For the Princess General. For Commander Poe. For Finn."

Satine patted Kaleine's cheek. "Good, Little Free Stormtrooper."

Kaleine frowned. "How much trouble are you getting me into? I'm still having to apologize for knocking out people from going to help Commander Poe."

Satine grinned and flicked a switch. "Oh, I'm sure it isn't anything you can't handle with a blaster."

****

JB-007 sighed as his beeping helmet woke him. He squinted around the barracks in the low light and pulled his helmet up onto his bunk. He yawned as he put it on.

The helmet's display gave him a notification of a message.

JB-007 stared at the screen. No Trooper his rank got messages. Not since the remains of the Empire had crumbled into the foundation of the First Order. He hit the control to play the message.

"Hello."

JB-007 gasped at Boost's condition. She was _smiling_ and her cheeks weren't drawn like the last time he'd seen her.

"You've probably been told I'm dead." She waggled her fingers. "Not dead yet." She sobered. "Man said you ought to see this. A...sort of reward for giving him a verbal kick." She smiled again. "You and I both know the First Order isn't bringing order to anything."

JB-007 ripped the helmet off and tried to control his breathing.

"She's right."

He wiped his head to the left to glare at the glowing man standing beside his bunk. He whispered, his voice barely carrying to the edge of his bunk, "There's nothing I can do. I'm one Trooper."

"So was FN-2187. Now his name is Finn and Starkiller Base is gone."

JB-007 took a breath and put his helmet back on.

A small Trooper in blacks sat on a cot. The angle of the capture made it look like the under height Trooper didn't know where the camera was. He listened to her voice as she _moved_ her tiny hands while she talked.

The glowing man drifted closer. "Well?"

JB-007 took his helmet back off. "Well, what? I'm a Trooper. What am I supposed to do?"

The Trooper next over rolled his head towards JB-007. "Who are you talking to?"

He narrowed his eyes at the glowing man. "No one. Go back to sleep."

The other Trooper snorted. "You're never up mid-rest shift. What's wrong?"

JB-007 rubbed his hand over his face. "Nothing." He only had a few more cycles to go. He flopped back down onto his bunk and ignored the glowing man trying to talk to him until a Trooper slipped up to stand at the side of his bed.

The Trooper bit their lip. "I...see him too."

JB-007 sat up as the glowing man watched them. "Don't say that."

Another Trooper came to stand at the first one's back. "Don't report us."

He rubbed his hands over his face. "Us. Kriff." He pointed at their bunks. "Go lay down. Count will happen in a few minutes."

They drifted away. JB-007 turned back towards the glowing man.

"You have a designation?"

"Anakin." He nodded at the helmet. "What if you weren't just one Trooper? Then what would you say?"

JB-007 laid back down and stared at the ceiling until the hatch to their barracks started to open. He closed his eyes as Anakin faded away. "I'd say I have a couple of cycles left."

****

Karé Kun frowned. The drop to sub-lightspeed had gone smoothly, but the scanner wasn't picking up any base, let alone _her_ base. She listened to R2-KT complain as she rolled them past a small mining outpost. "I don't know. He wouldn't have given us bad data. There's no beacon?"

R2-KT's beeping became faster and louder.

Karé made a face. "Fine, patch it through."

"This is Flight. Please identify yourself."

"Commander Karé Kun. I've got a box for Poe and I'm hungry. How many more jumps am I looking at?"

"Jumps? What jum..." The transmission went to static for a moment.

"Kun? Are you injured?"

"Injured? No. I'm tired is what I am." Karé frowned as the scan still didn't show anything. "I knew we'd move off D'Qar, but how complicated are we making finding our base now, General?"

"Oh." There was another moment of static. "Give it a minute. We need to drop a defense screen it seems."

Karé raised her eyebrows and turned towards KT. "No, I don't know what she means. I wouldn't think we'd try a cloak. Those things are unreliable and power hung...Oh, Maker."

R2-KT beeped louder as the Resistance base just _appeared_.

Karé looked over the big freighter parked outside the old Imperial docking bay for several minutes while Flight gave her landing instructions, which was really just buying the base time to pull together a crowd to mob her when she got down. She listened with half an ear as she wondered what the freighter had hauled.

Flight's long list of boring crap suddenly became not boring.

"Wait. Did you just say don't shoot any of the Stormtroopers?"

"Ex-Stormtroopers and they are mostly children."

Karé raised her eyebrows as KT told her what the droid thought of making kids into Troopers. "Flight, who let you on duty drunk?"

"Fifteen credits says we have kid Troopers."

"No bet. Put the General back on." She maneuvered down and lined up to go through the docking bay blast doors.

"Yes, Kun?"

"General, do we really have kid Stormtroopers?"

"They've defected. Kindly don't point a weapon at them. They follow Commander Dameron and several others around constantly."

Karé got close enough for the specks to resolve into beings. Loads of them and a lot where tiny beings. "Understood, General. I'll be careful. Thank you for the clarification."

"Don't worry, Karé. They'll grow on you."

Karé clicked off the comms and wrinkled her nose. "Like I know what to do with children." She eased down into the landing pad she'd been steered towards. She blew out a breath and popped her hatch.

Jessika climbed up as soon as the ladder was hooked on. "They're all ours, promise. Don't get mad about your room." She hugged Karé quick and hard. "I'm so happy you're alive."

"Pava, let her out of her ship!"

Jess turned and made a face at Poe as Karé stood up to climb down.

They got down and Karé let everyone left of their fleet hug her. She looked at Poe over Nien Numb's head. He made that half-shrug that meant he was blaming himself and no one had snapped him out of it yet.

She pulled back as more children silently appeared around them as Poe approached her. "Commander."

He grinned at her. "Come here."

She let him pull her into a hug as the children seemed to tighten up around them. So many and some of them had Stormtrooper armor on, but most were in blacks that looked like the body glove of a Stormtrooper. "Poe?"

"Yeah. Rey's going to tell you I'm collecting them from the First Order." He pulled back and Karé could see the pain in his whole body. These kids had made him cry.

She looked around at them, trying to make eye contact with any of them, but they were all staring at her X-Wing. "Poe, what are they doing?"

Poe frowned and grasped the shoulder of a dark skinned boy to his left. "Noilo?"

The boy, Noilo, shook his head. "She coming. Satine wanted to talk to her."

Poe knelt down next to Noilo. "What is it?"

Karé stared over Poe's head at the open hatch at the back of the hanger as the General, a robbed man...Karé gasped. She pulled on Poe's collar. "Poe."

"Yeah, I know. He came back."

Behind Skywalker came two adults and one short little girl with red hair. The child moved through the rest of the children with ease and stopped next to Poe and Noilo.

"It is singing, Poe."

Poe touched her little shoulder. "What is, Kaleine?"

Kaleine nodded toward the X-Wing and turned her tiny face up to look at Karé. "You follow Commander Poe?"

She smiled. "I do." She held out her hand. "I'm Karé Kun."

Kaleine shook her hand firmly. "Kaleine." She pulled her hand from Karé's grasp and poked Poe's shoulder. "Why is it singing?"

Karé pulled Poe to his feet and leaned in close. "What is she talking about?"

"How would I know? It's your ship, Karé." He tilted his head slightly. "Also, they can hear you."

She dug her fingers into the soft flesh of his arm. "Poe."

He pried her off of his arm. "We'll talk later. You made it alright?"

Karé shrugged and then saluted as the General finally made her way through the children. "General."

"At ease." The General prodded Poe in the ribs with her elbow. "Poe?"

"Working on it." Poe kept a hand on Kaleine's shoulder. "Any cargo, Karé?"

"Now that you mention it, your father gave me a box for you." Karé tired not to shiver as the children parted without a word to make a path back to her ship.

Poe followed her and took the box after Karé pulled it from the small cargo hatch. 

A dark skinned man Karé had never seen before came up beside Poe. "I'll hold it."

Poe handed him the box and glanced at Karé as he opened it up, the children crowding in around with Master Skywalker at their heels. "Karé, this is Finn."

Finn nodded at her. "Ma'am."

Poe dug into the box and pulled out a small bundle of cloth.

Master Skywalker frowned and then gripped the edge of the box and turn Finn partway towards him. "Where did Kes get them?"

Karé shrugged as Master Skywalker looked at her. "He said they came off the tree out back. He said Poe only knew it was blooming. He made a point of saying he hadn't touched any of them, but he didn't tell me what they were."

Poe unwrapped the bundle and stared down at the four crystals nestled in the cloth. "Master Luke?"

Finn reached for the crystals. "Poe, the one of the left..."

Master Skywalker caught Finn's hand. "Wait for Rey."

A slim woman with bare upper arms slipped in between Poe and Finn. "Oh, those two sound the best." She leaned her head against Poe's shoulder. "The rest don't sound like them." She pointed at the ones on the right in Poe's hand.

Poe swallowed hard. "The rest?"

Kaleine pulled on Finn's arm to get him to lower the box. "There's enough for the platoon." She looked up at Karé. "Thank you."

Karé frowned at her. "You're welcome?"

Poe bundled the crystals back up and handed the bundle to the woman. "Here, Rey, hold these." He pulled a another bundle out and one of the children crowding around them reached for it.

Master Skywalker caught the child's hand. "Kann, don't touch it barehanded yet."

Kann nodded and pulled their bundle into their chest. "The pilot is hungry, Master Luke."

"Alright." He turned his head towards the General. "Leia, your pilot is starving."

The General rolled her eyes, but beckoned to Karé. "Come on. I'll fill you in while you eat."

Karé nodded and patted R2-KT as the droid informed her that BB-8 had been on a scarier adventure than they had. "Yes, General."

****

Leia poured Karé a cup of tea. "None?"

"I checked sixty-three systems, General. No one had a genetic scanner that would work if I got near it."

Leia sighed. "Given the developments here, I wouldn't doubt that if you'd checked every inhabited system you'd not have found one." She sat down across from Karé. "I am happy you made it back."

"General, those kids..." She trailed off as Han wandered in from the bedroom. "General?"

"Han, don't scare my pilots."

Han waved a faintly glowing hand at them. "I didn't scare her." He sat down near them. "Did I, Kun?"

Karé cocked her head. "No, but how...exactly..." She slowly waved a hand at Han. "I mean...I've only ever seen one ghost before."

Leia narrowed her eyes. "When was that?"

Karé glanced at her before turning her gaze back to Han. "One of the planets near the Uncharted Region. Heard him more than saw him, but he said it'd be a good place to raise a couple of billion children. I thought I was dreaming things, but the children I dreamed just mobbed my X-Wing, so there's that."

Leia exchanged glances with Han. "Do you remember which planet?"

Karé nodded. "KT has it mapped. The children were First Order?"

Leia nodded. "We have several TIE pilots and their gunners as well."

"Our pilots?"

"Seven, counting Poe, were left after Starkiller Base."

Karé took a shaky breath. "Poe took it hard, didn't he?"

"Yes, and then he accrued Kaleine's platoon soon after. They may set you an escort. They follow Poe, Jessika, Finn, Rey, Luke, sometimes Snap, and myself." Leia sat down her tea. "They also tend to sleep on the floor of the rooms of adults they trust."

"So, I'm liable to end up needing to be careful going to the fresher during the night. Good to know." Karé sipped her tea. "General, I'm sorry I couldn't find a working genetic scanner."

"No need to be sorry, Karé." Leia looked up as her door opened to Luke standing there looking far too pale. "Get some sleep. From what I'm not supposed to know, you have a welcome back party to go to later this evening."

Karé eyed Luke for a moment before putting down her tea and standing. "Yes, General, but you didn't hear it from me." She slipped past Luke with a nod to him on her way out.

Leia waited for the door to close before grabbing her brother's arm and helping him to the couch. "Luke?"

He shook her off and sat one of the bundles from Poe's box on the low table between the chairs. "Don't fuss."

Leia cocked her eyebrow as she shoo'd C-3PO out of the room. "I'll fuss if I want. What happened now?"

Luke leaned back in his chair and rubbed at that ridiculous beard of his. "Two of the crystals aren't calling to any of the padawans. I was coming to tell you I'm pretty certain Kann and Noilo are half-siblings, but then...Leia, you are going to need to make time to train."

"Time to train?" Leia flopped down into her own chair. "I'm holding together the galaxy with two slabs of duracrete and a bag of tea leaves and you're telling me to make time? What time? I'm getting maybe four hours to sleep. I'm talking to over twenty planetary governments a day, most of them worrying about the First Order and wondering if we're going to have to face a _second_ Starkiller, as if one wasn't bad enough. I'm simultaneously planning a Stormtrooper rebellion, doing more mothering to a bunch of defectors than I thought possible, and running the Resistance."

Luke nodded. "I know." He unrolled the bundle to reveal two kyber crystals. "Leia."

She blinked at the crystals and then frowned. The one further away from her was...appealing. She huffed and grabbed up her tea cup. "Luke, I don't have time. I never did."

"I know Father scared you with the Force..."

"Don't."

Han's touch along her back tingled. "Leia, honey."

She sighed. "Don't you start."

Luke leaned forward. "I know you have no spare time, Leia. I wouldn't ask you, but..."

"Luke. Don't ask me to do what he did."

"I'm not."

Han patted her back. "Leia, what Vader did to you is something he can't do now."

"Wouldn't."

"Shut up, Luke." Han moved and sat on the table, the crystals under him. "Listen, Princess, I know how much seeing the Force in yourself scares you, but Luke doesn't ask for things very often."

Leia nodded. "I know that."

Han nodded with her. "It is looking more and more like the Force has rearranged our lives to save the galaxy. If that means you need to build a kriffing lightsaber, I say go for it."

She rolled her eyes. "You never believed in the Force."

Han shrugged. "I did. I just never liked to say. I heard about three words of Kenobi talking to Luke on Hoth. I felt the Force agree that sending Lando with my ship into the second Death Star was the right thing to do. And I hauled Chewie and three rathtars into Jakku's system on the off chance my feeling was right, long before the beacon was confirmed to be my ship flying around with two baby Force users and a rather important ball of a droid."

Leia rubbed at her temple for a few minutes before lifting her head. "Alright, I'll find the time." She pointed a finger at Luke. "Don't fuss at me when I get interrupted every five minutes by something."

Luke caught her hand in his. "Never." He grinned at her. "Princess General."

She pulled her hand loose and smacked him, gently. "Tell me how to make the thing glow, Jedi Prince."

****

Finn stared down at the glowing...being as he held the nearly empty box for Poe. "I don't know you."

The being shrugged. "It matters not." He pointed across the room to where Master Luke had just disappeared out the door with one of the box's bundles in his hand. "What think you of him?"

Finn frowned. "Why are you asking?"

"Hmm." The being climbed up the side of a crate and whacked at the platoon with his stick as the children crept close. "Stubborn as he is, you are."

Poe gripped Finn's elbow tight. "You're Master Yoda."

The being chuckled and pointed with his stick at Poe. "Heard of me, you have."

Poe nodded. "Yes, I have and not all of it was good. General Oranga is liable to hit you if she catches sight of you."

Finn looked from Poe to Master Yoda and back again. "He was the Jedi Grandmaster?"

Poe shrugged as the children moved closer. "That's what Luke has said."

"Important, I was. Useful in the end, it was not." Yoda pointed at Kann. "Powerful in the Force, do you think you are? Hmm."

Kann moved forward far enough to step in front of Finn. "Are you encrypted like Satine was? Kaleine said if you showed up we're supposed to tell the other Force ghosts right away. She thinks General Solo is going to kick you. Do you deserve to be kicked?"

Yoda reared back as Kann asked if he was encrypted and then leaned forward as Kann asked he deserved to be kicked. "Powerful, Satine is. That is what I asked you _not_. Answer. Answer!"

Kann made a face and dropped her head back to look up at Finn. "Should I kick him for General Solo?"

Finn shook his head. "No kicking." He ignored the affronted noise from Master Yoda. "We aren't in combat or training."

Kann sighed and narrowed her eyes at Yoda. "Why did you show up now? Tall Guy said to the Frowny Guy that you didn't like him and probably wouldn't come annoy Master Luke unless it was really important."

Yoda huffed and turned on the crate he was standing on to hit at the top of it with his stick. "Dislike Anakin, I did not. Worry me, he did. Very powerful, he was." Yoda sat back down with his feet dangling off the edge of the crate. "Answer, you have not."

"Power is relative and what you think you are capable of." Kann took Poe's hand. "I'm less powerful than Kaleine and it doesn't bother me." She looked up at Poe. "Did I get it right? Is that what he's meaning?"

Poe ran his hand over her head. "You got it right." He frowned at Master Yoda. "If you're here just to make people feel bad, you can go now."

Yoda ignored Poe and looked up at Finn. "To fight with a lightsaber, you know how."

Finn made a face, but nodded. "Kaleine seems to think I was trained, but I don't remember."

"Met Mara Jade, you have. Yes." Yoda looked around at the children gathered around. "The Force..."

"The Force is my ally." Finn chorused automatically as the children all spoke as well.

Yoda blinked several times. "Say this, I did."

Kann cocked her head. "Really? Lady Jade said Master Luke said it."

Kaleine came through the space made by Cerri and Noilo moving apart. "Master Luke said Master Yoda said it." She looked Yoda over. "Don't tell any of us we're too old or too angry. We're Stormtroopers that follow the Princess General and Commander Poe. If you came to train us, that's good. We know things, but we haven't gotten to _try_ things. If you came to make Master Luke cry with frustration, I will kick you off the base myself."

Yoda smiled. "Powerful in the Force, you think you are. Hmm?"

Kaleine smiled grimly. "Want to see?"

Master Luke's hand came down on Kaleine's shoulder. "No, I don't think Master Yoda needs a demonstration, Kaleine."

Kaleine looked up at him. "Are you sure, Master Luke? I've figured out Satine's defenses."

Luke patted her. "I'm sure. Gather everyone up and go eat, please."

Cerri cheered. Noilo rolled his eyes, but turned to lead the platoon away. Kaleine planted her feet as Luke tried to shoo her to follow the others.

"Kaleine."

She shook her head as Kann pulled on her arm. "He implied I would try to become _him_."

"Much anger, she has." Yoda watched them carefully.

Finn glared at Yoda. "Of course she's angry. We're all angry."

Poe touched his arm. "Finn."

Finn shrugged him off and leaned down to get his face level with Yoda. "You may have been a Jedi and you might have been important, but you are dead now. If you are going to help, then help."

"Help, I could. Know the Jedi Code, you do not."

Finn cocked his head to the side. "What makes you so sure? Ignorance, yet knowledge."

Yoda leaned back and blinked.

Master Luke pulled Finn around to face him. "Easy. Breathe. He's always like that. Or he laughs at you."

Finn rolled his shoulders and nodded. He rubbed at his sudden headache. "Well, at least Anakin corrects without making any of us feel like we're children."

Luke leaned to see Yoda past Finn's shoulder. "Master Yoda has always been good at making a person feel like a child."

"Many padawans, you have. Hmm. Help, you need. Yes."

Master Luke stepped around Finn. "Helping, you are not. Come on. We're going to talk to Master Kenobi and Father about splitting the padawans' training." He made shooing motions at Yoda and sighed when Yoda faded from sight.

Finn let Poe drag him from the room to follow the children. "I don't like him."

"I think he meant for you to not like him." Poe pushed him into the recreation room that was more...cluttered than normal. "Oh, good. Jess! I have a volunteer for you."

Jessika turned and grinned at them. "We're almost set. C-3PO said the General let her go little while ago." She beckoned to Finn. "Come on, Finn. I need you to reach things for me. Snap is refusing."

"Snap's arms are sore." Snap nudged Finn forward. "Go, go. She'll try to reach it herself and last time she knocked BB-8's antenna clear off."

"Once! I only have ever climbed on BB-8 once when I was drunk and you all act like I do it every day."

Poe grinned. "You climb on R4 everyday."

Jess made a rude gesture at Poe as she held out frilly...stuff to Finn.

****

Poe tried not to laugh as Finn started stringing more celebration tape. He elbowed Snap lightly. "Thanks."

Snap hauled on his elbow and drug them out into the hallway. "What had him so mad? Do we need to send someone to Medical?"

Poe leaned against the hallway wall as he shook his head. "Another Force ghost. You remember how the stories make Master Yoda sound?"

"Yeah? People either love him or hate him." He turned his head towards the rec room. "I take it Finn hates him?"

"Master Yoda seemed to be trying to rile them up." Poe rubbed his face with both hands. "I've got a lightsaber crystal, Snap. I'm a kriffing pilot. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

"Make a lightsaber?" Snap grinned and pulled Poe in against his side. "Boss, no one says you have to use the thing."

Poe nodded and buried his head in Snap's shoulder. "If I can be a Jedi...I should be dead."

Snap gripped him tightly. "Boss, if you had died then, we'd all be dead now. What do pilots say?"

"Let tomorrow take care of itself."

"Yeah." Snap patted his back. "The Force is with us, Boss. If you were supposed to be dead, you'd be dead. You aren't, so you're not supposed to be, yeah?"

Poe straightened up and nodded. "Right. Yes."

Snap clapped him on the shoulders. "Good. Now let's go get the guest of honor before Jess gets Finn to string enough tape to fill the whole room."

****

Rey stayed against the wall across from the food as she watched Poe and his pilots celebrate and mourn all in one incredibly loud party. Even the former TIE pilots were getting just as loud. Although, a couple of times she'd seen them startle and look around like they were going to be in trouble for having fun.

Finn sat next to her and laughed as Ele made Jaydavi attempt to dance. "We aren't any good at dancing."

Rey smiled and leaned against him. "You just need practice." She nodded towards Poe dancing with Jess and Karé. "See, even Poe looks silly."

Finn smiled as he watched. "His hair."

Rey giggled as Poe tossed his head after spinning first Jess and then Karé. "I know, right? He always looks like he just rolled out of bed."

Chewie made his way across the room and sat on the other side of Rey from Finn. He gestured towards Poe and asked her why they weren't the ones dancing with him.

"He lost a bet. Finn doesn't know how and I've never danced with other people. I think I'll end up stepping on someone."

Chewie stood and picked up Finn by his collar as he told her they were going to dance with a wave of his arm at the dance floor.

Rey bit her lip, but followed and soon found herself passed off to Poe with Karé passed to Chewie and Finn. "Hi."

Poe grinned and twirled her into Jess. "Hi."

Jess made a gagging motion and slipped around Finn to push him into Poe as she hauled on Karé and Chewie to pull them away.

Finn laughed as he wrapped his long arms around Rey and Poe's shoulders. "I feel betrayed."

Poe kissed Finn's temple. "That's Pava for you." He swayed with them as they danced. He smiled wide. "You'll dance with the Wookie, but not me?"

Rey smiled back and tugged on the hair at the back of Poe's neck. "You were busy dancing with other gentle beings."

Jess laughed as the trio swung around them. "Don't call me gentle. I'm fierce!"

Poe shook his head as they flowed away. "Oh. She's going to be feeling that in the morning."

Rey giggled and pulled both of them closer. She wanted to remember this forever.

****

Zeroes frowned as Snap told him and the ten night-shift of the platoon they were to leave the mess until the morning. "It needs cleaned, doesn't it?"

Snap tried to pat him on the shoulder, but missed. "We...we're good. Pilots clean up their own...messes. Not your...didn't come and party."

One of the littles stepped forward and hooked Snap's arm over his small shoulders. "I'll take him to his room. Kann said he can't remember things well sometimes."

The other littles moved closer. "So...we clean, right?"

Zeroes looked over the mess. It wasn't bad. Mostly dishes and some weird frilly stuff hanging from the ceiling. "We clean."

****

Captain Phasma eased the unconscious Jedi down onto a bunk in the transport. She motioned Satine forward. "You are certain?"

Satine nodded and adjusted the necklace of crystals around Skywalker's neck. "Names."

Phasma nodded and turned, only to stop short as TA-175 stood staring at them from the loading ramp. "What?"

"This unit protects all of Commander Poe's soldiers."

Phasma snorted. "Fine." She pointed towards the bunk. "Protect him." She settled in the pilot's seat and blew out a breath.

Satine sat in the co-pilot's seat and flicked switches.

Phasma rubbed the side of her face and punched the buttons to close up the transport.

As the transport's hatch started to close a small Stormtrooper slipped quietly onboard.

****

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wrote. I reread and didn't like it. I pulled it apart and rewrote. Repeat four more times. Then, I admitted defeat, so I polished this up as best I could and posted it.
> 
> Also, I totally hate trying to write Yoda's speech patterns. I did the best I could, but I'm dyslexic and he's difficult.


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